A thriving Southland community known for its ramen and boba offerings is facing the challenge of honoring its past while serving the future as one LA’s hippest destinations.

Sawtelle JapanTown – or "Little Osaka" – is a Westside neighborhood blessed with tradition and a flood of new creativity. Once a small ethnic enclave, Sawtelle has become a cosmopolitan destination just a few blocks west of the 405 Freeway.

Decades ago, before the pop culture and hip eateries, there was one business that thrived on Sawtelle for generations – garden nurseries.

Issei – first-generation Japanese immigrants – who arrived from Japan in the early 20th century grew their roots in the then-unincorporated Sawtelle, a less urban alternative to Little Tokyo in downtown Los Angeles.

But when WWII broke, they were told to get rid of all of their property and move into internment camps.

"The land is so valuable. They’re selling the land," said Kageyama. "Sawtelle has just become the hippest place in the world."

Harold Sledge, owner of Furaibo, a restaurant known for its chicken wings, saw Sawtelle’s potential 30 years ago. He brought back Nagoya's famous chicken wings from a globe-trotting adventure and jumped at the chance to set up shop on Sawtelle.

"Everything changes, but the wings remain the same," Sledge said. "We’ve got to remember the past to move into the future."

But there are also fears that the future will eliminate Sawtelle’s past.

"I don't see the next generation taking it up, so we could be the last," Kageyama said.

"It's not the same," said Jack Yamaguchi, whose mother opened the Sawtelle Variety Store 70 years ago. "I miss the old Sawtelle."

But amid the new, some traditions never fade.

Every Saturday, the Japanese Institute of Sawtelle teaches the youth the native language of those who started the Little Osaka community.